Rogue Recovery Mentoring & Coaching

In honor of Pi Day 🙃

GOD is a very loaded word that comes with lots of baggage.

Here is what God would say according to Dutch philosopher Baruch de Spinoza:

Stop praying.

What I want you to do is go out into the world and enjoy your life. I want you to sing, have fun and enjoy everything I’ve made for you.

Stop going into those dark, cold temples that you built yourself and saying they are my house. My house is in the mountains, in the woods, rivers, lakes, beaches. That’s where I live and there I express my love for you.

Stop blaming me for your miserable life; I never told you there was anything wrong with you or that you were a sinner, or that your sexuality was a bad thing. S*x is a gift I have given you and with which you can express your love, your ecstasy, your joy. So don’t blame me for everything they made you believe.

Stop reading alleged sacred scriptures that have nothing to do with me. If you can’t read me in a sunrise, in a landscape, in the look of your friends, in your son’s eyes … you will find me in no book!

Stop asking me “will you tell me how to do my job?” Stop being so scared of me. I do not judge you or criticize you, nor get angry, or bothered. I am pure love.

Stop asking for forgiveness, there’s nothing to forgive. If I made you… I filled you with passions, limitations, pleasures, feelings, needs, inconsistencies… free will. How can I blame you if you respond to something I put in you? How can I punish you for being the way you are, if I’m the one who made you? Do you think I could create a place to burn all my children who behave badly for the rest of eternity? What kind of god would do that?

Respect your peers and don’t do what you don’t want for yourself. All I ask is that you pay attention in your life, that alertness is your guide.

My beloved, this life is not a test, not a step on the way, not a rehearsal, nor a prelude to paradise. This life is the only thing here and now and it is all you need.

I have set you absolutely free, no prizes or punishments, no sins or virtues, no one carries a marker, no one keeps a record.

You are absolutely free to create in your life. Heaven or hell.

I can’t tell you if there’s anything after this life but I can give you a tip. Live as if there is not. As if this is your only chance to enjoy, to love, to exist.

So, if there’s nothing after, then you will have enjoyed the opportunity I gave you. And if there is, rest assured that I won’t ask if you behaved right or wrong, I’ll ask. Did you like it? Did you have fun? What did you enjoy the most? What did you learn?…

Stop believing in me; believing is assuming, guessing, imagining. I don’t want you to believe in me. I want you to believe in you. I want you to feel me in you when you kiss your beloved, when you tuck in your little girl, when you caress your dog, when you bathe in the sea.

Stop praising me. What kind of egomaniac God do you think I am?

I’m bored being praised. I’m tired of being thanked. Feeling grateful? Prove it by taking care of yourself, your health, your relationships, the world. Express your joy! That’s the way to praise me.

Stop complicating things and repeating as a parakeet what you’ve been taught about me.

What do you need more miracles for? So many explanations?

The only thing for sure is that you are here, that you are alive, that this world is full of wonders.

– Spinoza

In these times of so much separation and fighting let us always try to remember the infinite power of LOVE ❤️

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

-Martin Luther King Jr.

6 years Alcohol free *on 12/22/23

I missed my yearly soberversary post but that’s ok because after all it is just a date. A lot of people I know in Recovery put a lot of weight into their sober date or number of days but I think this can be a mistake. Although I am extremely proud of my six plus years of abstinence from the substance that nearly destroyed me, what matters way more is what I have done with the time and freedom this has provided me. Your recovery or whatever else you may be healing from does not define you, it is just a part of your journey.

Things i have learned from recovery process so far:

1. I have learned to love myself. The good the bad and the ugly. What I am not satisfied with I continue to work on, balancing the gratitude of how far I have come, with the desire to keep growing and expanding. I know that I am an impermanent process that continues to develop and evolve. "There is no higher or lower goal. There is only one goal, Self-Realization."-Meher Baba
2. I have learned to accept the reality I live in. Regarding the parts I do not like, I do my best to actively work on being the change I want to see in the world. Acceptance does not mean resignation. “Peace is where truth and acceptance meet.” -me. lol
3. I have come to understand the oneness of all things. That there is just one whole and we are all a part of that whole. All is one and one is All. “Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.” -Leonardo da Vinci
4. I have cultivated meaning and purpose in my life greater than myself. Being a service to others while staying true to myself and what serves me. “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” -Rabindranath Tagore
5. I no longer run from pain nor only seek pleasure. Change is uncomfortable and growth often painful. Pain is a part of life and if embraced can be harnessed into valuable lessons that strengthen and expand our spirit. “Pain isn’t the truth, it’s what mortals go through to find the truth.” -Deepak Chopra

I quit drinking not just to survive but to thrive. I quit so that I could work on becoming my best self and start actively creating the life that I want. It might sound crazy but I am so grateful for my addiction because of the infinite number of lessons it has taught me. Because it forced me to reevaluate everything about my life and about myself.

I had to kill the old version of myself that I had built up over 30 years of actions based on false beliefs and fear. This rebirth was the most difficult and painful thing I have ever been through while at the same time being the most beautiful and worthwhile. I spent too long trying to be someone based on others thoughts and opinions instead of my own.

I sincerely wish each and every one of you a prosperous and transformative New Year! May you find the courage to look inward and find the answers you are looking for. May you always strive to be true to yourself. May you look back many years from now and see only lessons, not regrets. Remember if you don’t tell the world who you are it’s going to tell you.

“Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to be.”
-Alan Watts

Peace. Love. DF

Being open to change is such an important quality for peace and happiness when change is the only constant.

Who knows the song from the lyrics below?

Bittersweet and strange
Finding you can change
Learning you were wrong

For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.
-Francis Scott Fitzgerald

RUN THE DISHWASHER TWICE.

When I was at one of my lowest (mental) points in life, I couldn’t get out of bed some days. I had no energy or motivation and was barely getting by.

I had therapy once per week, and on this particular week I didn’t have much to ‘bring’ to the session. He asked how my week was and I really had nothing to say.

“What are you struggling with?” he asked.

I gestured around me and said “I dunno man. Life.”

Not satisfied with my answer, he said “No, what exactly are you worried about right now? What feels overwhelming? When you go home after this session, what issue will be staring at you?”

I knew the answer, but it was so ridiculous that I didn’t want to say it. I wanted to have something more substantial. Something more profound. But I didn’t. So I told him,

“Honestly? The dishes. It’s stupid, I know, but the more I look at them the more I CAN’T do them because I’ll have to scrub them before I put them in the dishwasher, because the dishwasher sucks, and I just can’t stand and scrub the dishes.”

I felt like an idiot even saying it. What kind of grown woman is undone by a stack of dishes? There are people out there with actual problems, and I’m whining to my therapist about dishes? But my therapist nodded in understanding and then said:

“RUN THE DISHWASHER TWICE.”

I began to tell him that you’re not supposed to, but he stopped me.

“Why the hell aren’t you supposed to? If you don’t want to scrub the dishes and your dishwasher sucks, run it twice. Run it three times, who cares? Rules do not exist, so stop giving yourself rules.”

It blew my mind in a way that I don’t think I can properly express.

That day, I went home and tossed my smelly dishes haphazardly into the dishwasher and ran it three times. I felt like I had conquered a dragon. The next day, I took a shower lying down. A few days later. I folded my laundry and put them wherever they fit. There were no longer arbitrary rules I had to follow, and it gave me the freedom to make accomplishments again.

Now that I’m in a healthier place, I rinse off my dishes and put them in the dishwasher properly. I shower standing up. I sort my laundry. But at a time when living was a struggle instead of a blessing, I learned an incredibly important lesson:

THERE ARE NO RULES. RUN THE DISHWASHER TWICE!
Also Read https://fabliyo.com/11-year-old-young-boys-selfless-act-of-kindness-rewarded-after-returning-wallet-by-hotflav-april-22-2023145010/
Credit ~ Kate Scott

“The single greatest accomplishment of my human life was arresting my addiction to opiates and alcohol.” J.L.C 🙏🙌❤️

YASSSSSS QUEEN 👸🏻

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there trying their best to navigate life. May you find peace, gratitude and self love 🙏

maturity is when you can finally ride
the ups and downs of life
without getting tossed around by them
you don't expect everything to be perfect
you know change is a constant
you don't judge yourself when times get hard you live in gratitude
you enjoy the good when it is here
-Yung Pueblo

https://youtu.be/1eE2YTMnH-4?si=v2Tl3HTjskY5l7BC

QUIT DRINKING ALCOHOL - One of The Most Eye Opening Motivational Videos Ever Countless people including Jordan Peterson, Dr. Andrew Huberman, Rich Roll, Daniel Radcliffe and Tom Bilyeu explain why you should stop drinking alcohol."All...